Booklet Tips – The Only Way It Works

Booklets are so 1990’s. Or are they? Well, social media and texting and video and writing a full length book (in print, an ebook, or both) or (fill in the blank) are what everyone is doing today and the only ways to go. Or are they? And is it really everyone? Plus that same “everyone” has a smartphone and a tablet computer and every other latest version of every available electronic device. Really? Everyone? While certainly increasing in popularity, statistics say otherwise when it comes to “everyone.”

Now, before you hit “delete” or “unsubscribe,” at least give the next 500-ish words a once-over for the single pearl that just could catapult you to a whole new level of results or comfort you in realizing there is a market for your product formats wherever you are on your journey today — or some combination of both.

While all those digital delivery formats and tools are, yes, very popular and wonderful new additions to how you can reach the people who want what you have, they are “also” rather than “only.” In some cases they are “not at all”
because your audience is not suited to receiving your expertise that way, hard as that may be for you to imagine.

As social media and downloadable formats started appearing and continue gaining momentum, the earliest suggestions here were to start by creating a tips booklet manuscript. That was and continues to be the cornerstone of your product line – pithy “how-to’s” that guide people from the most basic levels of your area of expertise at the earliest entry point. You can then take that piece of clay (your 3000-word edited Word document of tips) and shape it in many ways. These are just a few:

Create a 3-5 minute video for each or some of the tips – post on your site, YouTube, or license for a fee
Do an audio podcast based on one or some of your tips – present live, recorded, or license for a fee
License the entire series of tips to companies to drip on their subscriber list – drip on your own list
Expand your tips booklet to be a full length book – do a chapter at a time to sell as a downloadable subscription and also offer print, a copy at a time through print on demand
Record the entire tips manuscript as an audio program – give away and/or sell the download or CD
Offer the original tips booklet as both a printed version and a PDF – strategically give away and/or sell

While far from comprehensive, this list got you thinking, didn’t it? That’s the same purpose your tips serve. What’s next for you? There are many ways beyond only ONE way.

ACTION: Before you jump on the bandwagon, attracted by the latest shiny object, think about your strategy and why you’re doing it. Who are the people you serve and what are their behaviors? Do they live, eat, and breathe online and are in a certain age group or industry or culture, or do they still have the computer they bought before the turn of the century because it still works? Is their smartphone permanently attached to the end of their arm or do they only turn on their basic mobile phone when they think they may be getting a call from someone, not even realizing a phone can do more than make and receive calls? While all of this may seem humorous at the very least, there really are people who want what you have, just in other (older) formats that suit them better.

“Turn Your Tips into Products and Your Tips Products Into MoneymakersTM”